


Just for a Moment

by Aki (Akiko_Natsuko)



Series: 365 Days of Fandom [18]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Aftermath of Paris, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Friendship/Love, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-27 18:46:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18197951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Aki
Summary: “You need to stop,” she cut him off, voice still soft, but with a hint of steel now. Not that it had taken much to stop him, his voice already beginning to waver and break, and she could see it in his gaze when their eyes met for a second. He was shattering, and only keeping moving was stopping him from showing the whole world how much, and her heart ached, as she realised that this must’ve been happening even when he was comforting her and Jacob and his own brother, burying his own hurt to deal with theirs.





	Just for a Moment

     Newt hadn’t stopped moving since the moment they’d left Paris. At first, he had been with his brother, offering comfort, showing no hint of the emotions that she had seen from him in the French Ministry, as though all that had faded away. Another thing burnt away by Grindelwald’s flames. Then he had been caring for his Niffler, frowning, as he whispered to the creature, tending it with the gentleness and reverence that so few people would show a beast like that, and she had faltered then, drawn out of her own spiralling thoughts to watch him. To see the side of him that she loved shining through, aching when it was short-lived, his mind already turning to what else needed to be done, refusing to stop, to face up to everything that had happened.

To everything that had been lost.

    She almost envied him, because all she could see, playing on repeat in her mind was her sister crossing the flames, walking into Grindelwald’s embrace without a backwards glance at her. She knew they’d been on rocky ground, but for Queenie to take that path…she shook her head, glancing at Jacob slumped beside her, having barely said a word since then, beyond agreeing when Newt had looked at the two of them and promised that they would find a way to bring her back. To bring her home. Offering them comfort, even when there were shadows in his eyes that said he felt the loss too. She looked across at Newt once more, catching the glint of silver between his fingers as he studied something, still unable to be still, the haunted expression that she had seen when the flames had first faded on his face once more and scowled.

Enough was enough.

“I’ll be right back,” she murmured, to the man who felt her sister’s loss as keenly as she did, patting him on the shoulder, waiting until she got a stilted nod before moving away. Throwing a glare at the Aurors by the door who was watching him with suspicious eyes as she walked towards Newt, the threat clear as she fingered her wand. She might be a stranger here, and they might be waiting on the higher-ups before going to Hogwarts, but they would need to go through her before they got to him, because right now that was the only thing she could do for Queenie. They seemed to get the hint looking away, although she was careful to keep half an eye on them as she moved across to join Newt, managing a weak quirk of her lips as the Niffler crooned at her.

 “Mr Scamander….” The smile disappeared as Newt stiffened, whatever he had been studying into his pocket before he turned to look at her.

“Newt,” his voice was strained in a way that she had never heard it, even when she had been pushing him away, hurt by the misunderstanding about Leta. “Please.”

“Newt,” she repeated obediently, voice soft, hesitating for a moment before reaching out to grasp his shoulder as she realised that he was already looking for something else to pick up. Trying to keep moving, even now. “You need to take a break.”

 “I can’t there’s too much to do, I-I…”

“You need to stop,” she cut him off, voice still soft, but with a hint of steel now. Not that it had taken much to stop him, his voice already beginning to waver and break, and she could see it in his gaze when their eyes met for a second. He was shattering, and only keeping moving was stopping him from showing the whole world how much, and her heart ached, as she realised that this must’ve been happening even when he was comforting her and Jacob and his own brother, burying his own hurt to deal with theirs.

“No, I…” He was trembling now, but he wasn’t pulling away, and that told her that she had a chance to get through to him because she knew him enough by now to know that it was if he pulled away that you really had to worry. Still, she was gentle, her voice dropping even lower as though he was a wild animal that might bolt at any moment, a fitting description she thought, as she glanced at the Niffler cradled against his chest, and at the Bowtruckle, she could just make out peering out of his top pocket.

“Yes.” Soft, but unmoving, as she stepped closer. “Newt…” He wasn’t looking at her now, but his hands were clenching and unclenching at his side, and she took another step. “Please look at me.” She had seen him avoid so many gazes, today and previously, but he had never avoided hers, even when he had been stammering and stumbling as he tried to explain about Lestrange and talk about her eyes, and she decided then and there that she didn’t want him to avoid her again. Mercifully the plea seemed to work, because his eyes flickered towards her, widening as he realised how close she was, and she moved before he could flee, wrapping him in a tight hug, mindful of the Niffler in his arms as it squeaked in warning.

“Tina…”

“You loved her Newt, maybe not as you once did,” she whispered, burying her own pang. It had been awkward meeting the other woman, and there was still so much that the two of them needed to talk about once this mess was sorted, but she couldn’t hide from the truth. She had seen how Newt looked at Leta, struck by how different it was to how he looked at others, and as his arms tentatively crept around her in turn, beginning to realise it was different in turn to how he saw her. “But you did love her, and you lost her too.”

“But…”

“You are allowed to grieve,” she cut through his protest, knowing that he was thinking about his brother, about their misunderstanding and refusing to let him put them first this time, feeling the tremor that wracked hi at her words. “For her, for Creedence…” Because they had lost him now, as there was no way Grindelwald would loosen his grip now that he had the boy in his grips, and she closed her eyes, that failure weighing on her as much as it did him, but not as much as the next loss as she added shakily. “And for Queenie…”

    It was impossible to tell which of them broke first because it seemed to Tina that the tears she had been struggling to keep at bay had just started to roll down her cheeks, when the first sob wracked Newt’s body. It was storm, quiet and less deadly than the firestorm that had taken so much from them, but no less potent, and Tina was barely aware of the silence that fell around them, the Niffler scrambling out of the way to let them all but curl around each other as they stopped and allowed themselves to shatter.

Just for a moment.


End file.
